The Minnesota congresswoman is currently running at about 5 percent in Iowa’s Republican caucuses, and appears unlikely to surge beyond sixth place out of the six candidates actively campaigning in Iowa.

But even in that harsh light, the men and women who caucused for her tonight – and those who accompanied her back and forth across the state in recent months – still see the strong-willed, right-on-the-issues candidate they’ve always known.

“Her core beliefs are the same as mine,” said Vicki Porter, who caucused for Bachmann in Urbandale. “I’m a very strong Christian, and I believe Michele was brought to us for such a time as this.”

When pressed on how that view comports with the results playing out on TV screens nationwide, Porter projected confidence.

“I’m not counting her out,” she said. “We could very well have a miracle. It’s all up to God. He knows what the plan is. We don’t.”

Rick Schulenburg, who caucused for Bachmann in his precinct on the south side of Des Moines praised her consistency..

“Her actions meet her rhetoric,” Rick Schulenburg. “What she says is what you get.”

Tamara Scott, the Iowa director of Concerned Women for America, traveled with Bachmann extensively in recent weeks, and said her support was undiminished tonight.

“I stepped in with Michele Bachmann because I believed in what she stood for,” Scott said. “I still believe what she stands for.”

“She’s a hard-working candidate,” he said. “Somehow – you know – it’s just, just disappointing. But it’s not the end of the world.”

“And,” he hastened to add, “I would do it again.”

The supporters couldn’t quite peg what held Bachmann back. Some suggested it had to do with being a woman. Others said she didn’t get a fair shake by the media. But none seemed certain as the exact cause.

“I think gender had a lot to do with it, probably because of the fact that people don’t know what kind strong woman she really is,” Porter said. “I know her. I know her core beliefs.”

The candidate herself had not yet arrived as of 10 p.m. She appeared earlier this evening at the massive Black Hawk County caucus site in Cedar Falls, and was expected to appear here. Other campaign vehicles carrying staffers and media have already returned, and one journalist on the press van said he saw the campaign bus pull over on the way back from Cedar Falls.